When the Duke of Lennox hires Sir Brook Derring, England's best investigator, to find his daughter, Brook intends only to rescue the lady and return to his solitary life. He deals with London's roughest criminals every day of the week; surely he should be able to endure seeing his first love again-the perfect girl who broke his heart...

Now her life depends on him

Lady Lillian-Anne Lennox has always done her best to live up to her father's standards of perfection-at the cost of following her heart. When she's kidnapped and her perfect life is shattered, Lila has another chance. Together, Lila and Brook navigate not only the dark and deadly side of London, but the chasm of pride and prejudice that divides them.

Get a sneak peek at Shana Galen'sI Kissed a Rogue(available March 1, 2016) with an exclusive excerpt of a selected scene.

“Lila, take off your clothes.”

If her startled gasp and choked “I beg your pardon” were any indication, he’d shocked her. If all went as planned, he’d shock her further before the night was over.

“Come here, Lila.”

“Why?” she asked, eyes wary.

If he told her plainly, she’d probably recommence negotiations. He had no doubt she’d fulfill her end of the bargain, but she liked everything on her terms.

“So we might have a conversation without yelling across the room.” The room was far too small for any yelling to be necessary, but Lila seemed to accept this response. She crossed to him, standing primly before him.

Marlowe is a pickpocket, a housebreaker-and a better actress than any professional on the stage. She runs with the Covent Garden Cubs, a gang of thieves living in the slums of London's Seven Dials. It's a fierce life, and Marlowe has a hard outer shell. But when she's alone, she allows herself to think of a time before-a dimly remembered life when she was called Elizabeth.

Maxwell, Lord Dane, is intrigued when his brother, a hired investigator, ropes him into his investigation of the fiercely beautiful hellion. He teaches her to navigate the social morass of the ton, but Marlowe will not escape so easily. Instead, Dane is drawn into her dangerous world, where the student becomes the teacher and love is the greatest risk of all.

Get a sneak peek at Shana Galen's Earls Just Want to Have Fun (available February 3, 2015) with an exclusive excerpt of a selected scene.

In this excerpt from Earls Just Want to Have Fun, Marlowe, a thief from the slums of London, is obliged to attend a Society ball. Her escort, Lord Dane, is having a difficult time resisting her charms, though he knows to do otherwise could cause scandal.

He should play the gentleman. He knew the rules. A gentleman did not lead a lady into the darkness where the couple could not be observed. A gentleman did not draw a lady against him. A gentleman did not steal kisses from someone to whom he was not betrothed.

But Dane could not stop himself. He didn’t understand it. He’d never had trouble resisting such temptations before. But with Marlowe Dane suddenly felt so bloody sick of playing the gentleman. He paused in the darkness behind a hedge and turned to face her. In the shadows, he could see little of her, save the white of her gloves. He took a step toward her, pulling her into his arms. She didn’t resist. He wished she would. He wished someone would stop him because he feared once he took this step he would never be able to go back. Once he kissed her, he would never be able to resist doing so again.

Today we're pleased to have four authors joining us at Heroes and Heartbreakers. The four—Grace Burrowes, Shana Galen, Carolyn Jewel, and Miranda Neville—have released a Christmas-themed anthology, Christmas in the Duke's Arms and are here to talk about their favorite Christmas stories. Thanks, ladies!

When Grace Burrowes, Carolyn Jewel, Shana Galen, and I agreed to write a anthology of connected Regency Christmas novellas, we had to decide how to approach the holiday. Christmas romances run the gamut from inspirational to full blown deck-the-halls Santa/Rudolph/Frosty traditional. Since the Regency era was actually a bit of a down time for Yuletide in England, coming between the ancient folkloristic celebrations and the Christmas of Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria that presaged the modern holidays, we could pretty much do as we pleased.

We agreed that the stories in Christmas in the Duke’s Arms should be warm and romantic and I know that my fellow writers, at least, delivered perfectly. As for the Christmas side, there’s plenty of greenery and mistletoe, a Christmas assembly and lots of love and happiness. I asked my fellow writers about their favorite Christmas stories.

I love the subtler Christmas tropes—the stranger bearing gifts, miracles in unexpected places, light overcoming darkness, warmth in the midst of winter, family of choice over family of origin (shepherds will do in a pinch, right?), and the community we can find at the margins when there's “no room at the inn.” While “The Gift of the Magi” is my favorite Christmas romance, I also love the children's television specials, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Today we're joined by author Shana Galen, whose Love and Let Spy is out today! Love and Let Spy is the latest book in the Lord and Lady Spy series, historical romances with a lot of humor and plenty of intrigue. Shana is here to discuss the perfect pairing of spies and romance. Thanks, Shana!

As every veteran romance reader knows, spies and romance go together like…well, like love and marriage, peanut butter and jelly, James Bond and a shaken martini. It’s no surprise that spies are some of our favorite romance heroes, and more recently our favorite heroines too. I mean, who doesn’t love a guy or girl who’s out there saving the world, fighting the bad guys, and looking debonair while doing so?

Lily Dawson, dubbed the Countess of Charm by the Prince Regent himself, plays the role of the courtesan flawlessly while her real purpose is spying in the service of the Crown. Her mission now is to seduce a duke to test his true loyalties. She'll do it, even though the man she really wants is Andrew Booth-Payne, Earl of Darlington—the duke's son.

Andrew is furious when he finds himself rivaling his father for Lily's attention. When he uncovers Lily's mission, Andrew is faced with impossible choices. It seems he is destined to betray either his family, his country, or the longings of his own heart...

Get a sneak peek of Shana Galen's Sapphires Are an Earl's Best Friend (available March 4, 2014) with an exclusive excerpt of a selected scene.

In this scene Lily is drawn to Andrew and gives in their attraction, against her better judgment.

She was in his arms, and no matter how many times her mind screamed that this was a mistake, she could not seem to step away. His mouth covered hers hungrily, and she devoured him just as eagerly. When she touched him, everything inside her came alive. Every sensation was heightened—she felt the fine weave of his linen shirt, the hard muscles of his chest, the stubble on his jaw as his mouth met hers. The lamps flickered weakly; his face had been in shadow from the moment she entered his room. She touched it now with one hand, learning its planes and ridges, its slopes and edges. Her fingers raked through his thick, dark hair. It was soft and naturally curly.

She moved to kiss his neck and nip at his ear catching his scent—a mixture of brandy and leather. She flicked out her tongue, teasing him just below the ear, and he inhaled sharply. Lily couldn’t have said why she did such a thing. She had wanted to taste him, to lick his skin and see if it tasted as delicious as he looked.

Baron Winslow Keating is honor-bound to finish one last mission as an elite spy for the Barbican group even though he just wants to go home and be with his family. But after years of secrecy and absence, his daughters hardly know him and his wife has given up on him...

She Wants to Try a Little Intrigue...

Lady Elinor has had enough of domestic boredom. She contemplates an affair with a rakish spy, only to discover a world of intrigue and treachery that she never knew existed. Even more shocking, her neglectful husband is suddenly very attentive—quite the jealous type—and apparently there is much more to him than she ever knew...

Get a sneak peek of Shana Galen's True Spies (available September 3, 2013) with an exclusive excerpt of a selected scene.

Baron Winslow Keating, the spy known simply as Baron, has kept his secret identity from his wife for fourteen years. Now she’s discovered his deception—and she’s not pleased. But after all the years of putting his service to the Crown first, Winn finds that now he has other priorities. His mission is to persuade his wife to fall in love with him again—and it may be his most difficult yet.

His town house was dark and quiet when he arrived home several hours later. It was early for Elinor to have retired, but he remembered the girls were at his mother’s house. Without their company, she had probably taken dinner in her room and stayed there. No doubt she wanted to avoid him. He was not going to allow that.

Fallon, the Marchioness of Mystery, is a celebrated courtesan with her finger on the pulse of high society. She's adored by men, hated by their wives. No one knows anything about her past, and she plans to keep it that way.

Only He Can Offer Her a Dazzling Future...

Warrick Fitzhugh will do anything to protect his compatriots in the Foreign Office, including seduce Fallon, who he thinks can lead him to the deadliest crime lord in London. He knows he's putting his life on the line...

To Warrick's shock, Fallon is not who he thinks she is, and the secrets she's keeping are exactly what make her his heart's desire...

Get a sneak peek of Shana Galen's If You Give a Rake a Ruby (available March 5, 2013) with an excerpt from Chapter 5.

He lifted the carriage lamp and tilted it so the light shone in her eyes. Fallon shielded her face and scowled at him.

The Marquis de Valère escaped certain death in the French Revolution and is now an infamous privateer. Out to avenge the death of his mentor, Bastien discovers himself astonishingly out of his depth when confronted with a beautiful, daring young woman who is out for his blood...

Forgiveness is unthinkable, but it may be her only hope...

British Admiral’s daughter Raeven Russell believes Bastien responsible for her fiancé’s death. But once the fiery beauty crosses swords with Bastien, she’s not so sure she really wants him to change his wicked ways...

Get a sneak peek of The Rogue Pirate’s Bride by Shana Galen (available February 7, 2012).

More about the excerpt: Bastien, otherwise known as Captain Cutlass, is a pirate bent on exacting revenge against the Barbary Corsair Jourdain, and has inadvertently kidnapped Raeven Russell, the daughter of a British Admiral. In this scene, Bastien and Raeven encounter a stealth attack from Jourdain’s ship La Sirena:

And then he heard it.

The faint tinkling of a bell.

It could have been his imagination. But he knew it wasn’t. He knew looking at the way Raeven Russell leaned forward, listening with her whole body, that bell was as real as the oak rail under his hands.

In the spirit of Heroes and Heartbreakers, I’m discussing the inspiration for the hero of my forthcoming book, Bastien Harcourt. Bastien, aka Captain Cutlass, is a pirate. Well, he says he’s a privateer, but really, what’s the difference? Bastien is charming, he’s a rogue, and he, like most pirates, is the ultimate bad boy.

Whenever I mention that Bastien is a pirate, the response is, “Really? I love pirates!” I started to wonder why we love pirates so much; is it because Johnny Depp is so hot as Captain Jack Sparrow? Is it because there’s been a dearth of pirate books lately?

Or is it because pirates represent the kind of alpha heroes we find ourselves drawn to?

Conjure the image of a pirate in your mind, and you probably think of a man in a flowing open white shirt, tight black trousers, and tall black boots. He’s standing at the helm of a fast, sleek ship with the wind on his face and the crash of the waves at his back. He answers to no one—no man or woman, no country, no law. The pirate is the ultimate bad boy.